Central African Republic: US President Obama nominated career foreign service officer Jeffrey Hawkins Jr. to become the US ambassador to the country. (AP)

Libya: A Sicilian fishing cooperative said a boat with seven crew members was taken by armed men 40 miles off the country’s coast and was being brought to the port of Misurata. (AP)

South Africa: Police fired rubber bullets to disperse immigrants who had armed themselves with machetes in Johannesburg amid a wave of anti-immigrant attacks. (Reuters)

AMERICAS

Region: The Vatican said that Pope Francis is planning to visit Cuba in September as part of a trip that will also take him to the US. (AFP)

Chile: Masked demonstrators clashed with police as tens of thousands of students gathered to protest corruption and education conditions. (AFP)

Mexico: Congress approved freedom of information legislation that will allow public access to data from almost any entity that receives government funding in a 264-68 vote. (AP)

United States: The emerging economies of the G-24 group criticized the country for holding up reforms of the IMF. (AFP)

ASIA

China: Newly released satellite images show that the country is building a concrete runway on an island in a contested area of the South China Sea that will be capable of handling military aircraft. (NYT)